It's been well over a month since my last blog and there's a reason for it. I took a full time job.What?

Yes, Wal-Mart has finally arrived in my small town. They were hiring, we could use some extra income about now so I thought what the hell? How bad can it be?

I've worked for Wally World on 2 separate occasions but I have never worked store level. And I've never heard a good thing about store level either, especially since Mr. Sam died. So I was thinking maybe this would be different and I took it on as sort of an experiment. Would it be as bad as I had heard? Or would it be different being it's a small town and a fresh start?

Most of you already know the answer. I worked 8 full days before I had to politely tell them to shove off. I won't go into all the details here but if you are interested I could talk your ear off for hours. Let's just say, in all my Wal-Mart careers, and all the different jobs I've taken on, and in all the different managers and supervisors I have worked for, I have NEVER been treated so shoddily, so indifferently and so rudely!

And 95% of that was from upper management.

So, is it because it's just how things work at store level or is it because they are so far away from the home offices that they are deathly afraid to lay off the kool-aid?

I don't know. Maybe my experiment was a failure. I really did have high hopes it would work out and I could go back to work pushing boxes and having some fun. Or maybe my experiment was a success after all because, well, the premise was spot on.

Either way, screw 'em. I've a backlog of nature like pictures and stuff to share.

My Century plants have decided to bloom. From what I've read these missile-like masts will grow 20 to 30 feet tall before they flower. After that, the plant dies. I've been taking pictures once a week to follow its progress and I'll put them all together later after it blooms.

Also booming is one of the queen palms. This stuff is as soft as silk and the bees are all over it.

Mike got busy and built this cat stand out an old ladder for Elby. She loves it.

He even personalized it for her.

Pond stuff: Jeremiah! I love to listen to him at night, croaking for all he's worth.

And Red Ear wandering around the small pond.

A nice shot of a daytime half moon and my mood is improving.

After several weeks of intense bullshit it's great to feel somewhat normal again.